No regrets
by fashiongirl97
Summary: He thought she was just being cold,heartless,saying it because she wanted to appear powerful.Yet what he didn't know was that there was actually a valid reason behind the no off the job rule.Jen's moved on but can he cope with the fact he's just her past?


_I don' t own NCIS. _

_I have had a story like this in my mind ever since I read Iluvmonkey's song fic to someone like you. If this is at all similar no copying is intended, I swear. This is just how my mind wrote it. _

_Please excuse the grammar, I know it's bad. I hope you enjoy it, and blame the angst on the music I was listening to._

_I hope you enjoy…_

He thought she was just being cold, heartless, saying it because she wanted to appear powerful. Yet what he didn't know was that there was actually a valid reason behind the 'no off the job' rule. A reason at this moment in time, one week later, he was yet to learn. Yet what he didn't realise as he sat at his desk, his desk light the only illumination in the empty bull pen, that he would soon be finding out the reason.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs had, he supposed, only ever re-married the first two times to hide the pain of their murders. But the third marriage, to Stephanie, that had been to hide the pain of her departure. Now she was back, all big boss and power suits. Yet he could see the sparkle in her eye as bright as in Paris. Her hair longer than he'd ever seen it, yet the scares on her heart, those he saw unlike the rest.

Now though he stares aimlessly up at her office. It was 19 30 on Friday night, and most had gone home. Cynthia her assistant was long gone and they were the only ones left. Biting the bullet he decided it was now or never and decided to approach the elephant that had been in the room since her return. So, he walked up the stairs and barged through her door.

She was just signing the last paper before she got to go home, when her door went flying open. She smirked knowing that there was only one person who ever came in like that. So, she finished her signature, slowly took off her glasses and looked up at him through her thick long eyelashes. He looked down at her and had to prevent the smile on his face from showing. They stood like that in silence for a few minutes before she realised she wanted to know why he was preventing her from going home. "Is there a reason you have barged into my office at this time agent Gibbs?" he felt a sudden whoosh of coldness sweep over him as he remembered this is what they had been reduced to.

"We ever going to talk about Paris Jen?" he questioned.

"Why though Jethro? What is there to say. We were both young, i was foolish and i left, what do you want me to say? Do i regret it? No, i did what i thought was right."

"That's it?"

"That's it. We did what we did. It was fun, we had a laugh but both of knew it could continue. We were undercover, living alter egos. DC, NCIS, it was a world away. How would we have coped when the questions started coming, when Marrow asked questions."

"We would have coped."

"No Jethro, one or both of us would have lost our jobs."

"And now?"

"No we carry on, move on. It was 7 years ago. You will always be more than just an agent to me, you'll always be one of my best friends but it time for me to move on, both of us to move on."

"I'll always love you Jenny."

"Don't make this harder."

**_xXx_**

After that Jethro left to go home to his basement, where, as per usual he drunk himself into oblivion and passed out under his boat. Jenny on the other hand went home to her little red head and husband. The little girl, Caitlin Paris Sheppard-Newman was the apple of her mother's eye. When Jenny's husband Liam Newman went away on tour, she was the one thing that Kept her mother sane. That night Jenny went home, quickly changed into a pair of pyjama pants and a black vest top before running down the stairs to see her two beloved people. Jenny sat down with her husband and cuddled up to him, and soon they were joined by a little red head who snuggled into her mother as they settled down to watch 'cars' the little red head's, and in fact the big red head's favourite movie. Liam noticed a change in his wife that night. "You alright?" he softly whispered in her ear.

"We talked about Paris." He softly kissed his wife's head. "Although I broke his heart and my own, I would do the same thing again, because otherwise I wouldn't have you or Caitlin."

"I love you Jenny." He said it just as Jethro had, yet this time she could reply.

"I love you too." She softly kissed him before looking at the little girl who was pulling a funny face at her parents kissing. "And we both love you too." Jenny said before tickling the little girl.

Jenny Sheppard laughed that night, she smiled and was happy. That night she realised just how much she had changed since those days when she was his probie, when she followed his ordered. As she looked at the little girl in her arms she realised just how perfect her life was. She had a husband who loved her to the bones and she him. Jenny also had the most beautiful little girl and her dream job. When she left in Paris she never thought she'd have this life, yet now she did.

**_xXx_**

The next day brought the hottest day of the year in DC. Jenny had taken her first weekend as Director off as to allow herself to spend the day with her daughter and husband. Liam was a Marine in the Navy so when he wasn't on tour she tried to make sure they spent as much time together as possible because she knew only too well how quickly everything could be lost.

So now, as Liam was in the kitchen getting ready to take the cookies their daughter had made out of the oven, Jenny played on their front lawn with Caitlin. She ran around chasing the laughing little girl. Neither of them saw the old battered truck that pulled up across the street. Inside sat an ex-marine turned NCIS agent. He watched in slight confusion as his ex-partner ran around with a little red head laughing and smiling. It broke his heart in a bitter sweet way when he saw a marine come out of the house and wrap his arms around Jenny, hugging her and kissing her neck. When she turned around and kissed him back before walking in, little girl on her hip and hand in hand with her husband, Jethro could not help but with that was him. If he had chased after her then maybe, just maybe that would be them. But she was happy, she'd moved on and that made him in a sad way happy too.

There was a reason why she had said no off the job on those stairs that day, one week ago. It wasn't because she was being cold or heartless; it was because she had a family. She had a new life. And that fact alone, the sight of her, grown up in a sense made him have a sense of pride. Why? Because even if it only be a little part, he had made her part of who she was today. Most of all he was proud, because he knew that she would do it all again, and that meant he wasn't a mistake, he was part of her life, part of her story.

_I hope it was okay and that you enjoyed it,_

_Please leave me a little review and tell me what you thought. Sorry it's so sad. I was in an angsty mood as you can most likely tell. _


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